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More than a third of Irish women have issues with hair thinning, and a whopping 76% said they’ve noticed hair loss during periods of stress, according to a Peter Mark survey. Yet, it’s an issue that’s often not openly discussed – clients shyly ask hairdressers for discreet solutions.
One such hairdresser is Emma King, founder and CEO of Cascata Hair. With over 17 years of experience in the industry as a bridal hairstylist, colour technician and managing director of Unique Hair Design, she’s seen just how prevalent hair loss and thinning is with her clients. “It’s such a private thing, and women lack so much confidence. But it’s such a common issue – there needs to be more knowledge about what to do and what not to do. I have a passion towards fine hair and dealing with these problems.”
This passion was also inspired by her own experience with hair thinning. After becoming a mother of five, she started struggling with her own hair and pursued her masters degree in hair and scalp to equip herself with the knowledge she needed, for both herself and her clients. Thus, Cascata Hair was born, providing seamless, clip-in hair extensions and side fillers that are fine hair-friendly, requiring no backcombing or harmful tapes. Sparked by her passion, Emma shares what she’s learned about female hair loss, and how it actually starts from the inside out.
I’m no medic but I do know what ingredients we need to support healthy hair growth. For instance, folic acid, iron, biotin and zinc are all so important. Nowadays, there’s so much on the market that I always tell people to read the label. If you have too much biotin, it’ll cancel out the zinc and vice versa. So many of my clients have scalp concerns and when they’re wondering why their hair is thinning, they don’t realise that they may be lacking B12, iron or folic acid. What we can tell from the scalp and hairline is unbelievable.
For supplements, I recommend Nourkrin Post-Pregnancy tablets. They are phenomenal vitamins and we’ve seen a massive success rate with them. I always recommend post-pregnancy supplements – the simple reason being I started them after my babies. To this day, I will go back on them if I find my hair sheds a lot. I have a hormonal imbalance which is affecting my hair massively still, even though my youngest is eight.
The first thing I always recommend is to go and get your bloods done. It’s so important. Thyroid is another massive one that women don’t realise will contribute to hair loss, so that’s important to check too. Hairdressers need to encourage clients to get their bloods done and I encourage my staff to do that. We need to find out what’s going on from the inside out.
Also, I’m always telling people to exfoliate their scalp just like our skin. If your hair only lasts a day before getting greasy, then you’re probably not exfoliating. You need to remove all the build-up of sebum (oil). A kind, soft scrub like the Kérastase Fusio Energising Hair Scrub is amazing for removing all those dead cells and the build-up of sprays, products, and pollution in the air. I would recommend using that once a month.
They need to listen to their bodies. Sometimes, people don’t like to hear they have to work on it from the inside out. They need to be more open to going to the GP or a trichologist, chatting about how they’re feeling inside and getting their bodies checked to see what they’re lacking.
They’re using the wrong home care. You don’t always necessarily have to go for high-end products. There’s always one in the middle range you can go for. I always say to read the labels. A lot of shampoos and conditioners can weigh your hair down and can make your hair look dull. You often hear people saying, “I can never get that shine that you get when you leave a hair salon,” and that’s when I tell them to look at their regime. I feel like that it is vital to find the correct hairdresser who can give you the correct knowledge and advice on what to use because everything should be tailored to our needs.
Bonds or tapes. As you get older, things change and your hair is not as strong as it was. The elasticity in your strands is different, so the less friction on your hair the better. It’s incredible how many people don’t see this until they’re nearly so far gone it’s hard to bring their hair back. I have seen clients who have been left with bald patches and so many different things. If you do want to use bonds or tapes, there are gentle ones like Great Lengths and Gold Fever – I love those. I would say go for kinder ones, and go to a professional. Unfortunately, extensions are going to damage your hair if they’re not applied correctly.
We’re getting a great boost at the minute. We just launched our side fillers in our first salon here in Dublin – Zeba. We chose them because they’re so premium, which is exactly where our product lies. You can come into any of the four salons – Maynooth, Sandymount, Salon Zeba in Arnotts and Zeba on South William Street.
You can also buy them at Unique Hair Design in Carrickmacross, and then online we have a fabulous service where they can send our colourists pictures for a perfect colour match. After Christmas, we hope to have more stockists in the Cork and Kilkenny area.We’re slowly but surely creeping into the market, and we want to make sure that we get the right people behind us who feel the same way about our brand that we do.
There are not enough things out there in the market for thinning hair and people don’t speak about it enough. It’s unbelievable how it affects a woman’s confidence, so we really want to make a difference.
To learn more about Cascata Hair and shop their extensions, visit Cascata Hair online.